Machine for vending stamps, tickets, coupons, &amp;c.



W. G. TEMPLETON. MACHINE FOR VENDING STAMPS, TICKETS, COUPONS, &c. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12. 1915.

LJLUKMQ. Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

6 O ,q/ I H auuemto v wi liweooao MW W. G. TEMPLETON.

MACHINE FOR VENDING STAMPS, TICKETS, COUPONS, &c- APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1915.

1,15?,649. Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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H I 1 15 a] mm F I j V COLUMBIA PLANDGRM'H CO..WASHIN(iTON. n. cy

W. G. TEMPLETON.

MACHINE FOR VENDING STAMPS, TICKETS, COUPONS, &c. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1915.

1,157,M9 Patented 001;. 19, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Snow 6oz W. G. TEMPLETON.

MACHINE FOR VENDING STAMPS, TICKETS, COUPONS, 8w. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1915.

LMKMQ, Patented 001;. 19, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

:EIE 1E awuauto'a Wiimeoow W@ COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.,\vAsmNGTON. LL c rnzvrrnn sad arrear ornion.

WILLIAM G. TEMPLETON, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE FOURTH T0 HARRY H. SELDOMRIDGE ONE-FOURTH TO GHARLEdB. SELDOM- RIDGE, AND ONE-FOURTH T0 WILLARD N. BURGESS, ALL OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO.

MACHINE FOR VENDING STAMPS, TICKETS, CUUPONS, c.

Application filed March 12, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM G. TEMPLE- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in the county of lfil Paso and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Vending Stamps, Tickets, Coupons, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the acccmpanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked therecn.

This invention relates to machines for vending or, upon the manipulation of suitable release devices, delivering stamps, coupons, tickets, or similar commodities and one of the principal (.bjects of the invention is to provide a machine which will successfully handle such commodities when they are connected in the form of a sheet or sheets and are adapted to be vended 'or delivered individually or in groups successively detached from the sheet or sheets.

The particular apparatus adopted for illustrating the invention is one designed for the vending or delivery of stamps and is adapted to handle the ordinary sheets of stamps such as are printed with ten columns and rows in a sheet. In this specific embodiment it is preferred that the machine shall deliver two stamps at each operation, although, as .will hereinafter appear, and without mechanical change, the machine may deliver either a single stamp at each operation, or any desired number within the capacity of the reservoir for holding sheets with the articles arranged to registerwith each other. For the purposes ofthe present application it will be sulficient, however, to describe the machine as designed for the handling of a single sheet. of stamps which is folded rnce at the center or along the central line between the stamps following the usual line of perforations, whereby the two parts of the sheet are, caused to occupy a parallel relationship with the stamps of each part in accurate registry, which arrangement of the sheet overcomes any dilficulty due to a lack of registry, such as might otherwise be occasioned by margins of unequal width.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. ill), 1915.

Serial No. 13,928.

Referring to the accompanying draw- 1ngs, l 1gure l is a perspective view of a simple form of stamp vending machine em- I bodying the present improvements, the apparatus being shown without embellishment or ornamentation of any kind, such as would be ordinarily employed in a commercial apparatus of this kind, but which is unnecessary for the purposes of the present applicaticn. l ig. z is a front elevation of a portion ofthe apparatus, some of the parts he ing shown in section and some of the parts 7 be ng broken away, in order to reduce the size of the drawing and to prevent obscurity. Fig. 3 is a section in a vertical plane indicated by the dotted line 33 of rig. Zand looking toward the left hand side or the lat ter figure. Jdigs. d, 5 and 6 are detail sectional views showing the position of the clamping and se\ering mechanism at three different stages in its operation. ligs. l and S are detail sections in a substantially hori' zontal plane illustrating the operation of the sex ering mechanism in two dilierent stages of the operaticn for the delivery of a couple of stamps.

of Fig. 2. Fig. 10 is a section in a vertical plane substantially on the line 10-l0 big. 2. Fig. 11 is a section corresponding to Fig. 9 but with the parts in their operated position. Fig. 12 is a rear elevation of the parts of the apparatus shown at the right hand side of Fig. 2. Fig. 13 isan elevation looking at the left hand end of the parts shown in Fig. 2 with the casing removed. Figs. ll and 15 are top plan views of the mechanism shown at the right hand side of Fig. 2 with the top portion of the casing removed.

Like letters of reference in the several Fig. 9 is a'section in a vertical plane substantially on the line 9 9 stamps or articles to be delivered, said sheets being adapted to be fed downwardly by a suitable weight located above the same and to be clamped or grasped immediately above the lowermost row, which latter row is adapted to have its units removed successively by cutters or severing devices arranged in stepped order arounda suitable operating shaft or drum. The latter is .adapted to be rotated so as to carry one cutter or severing device past the severing polnt at each operation of the machine, provision being made whereby the operating shaft is normally locked against movement,

but is adapted to be released by an implementor a coin or token, and when released 1t may be operated manually in such wise that the shaft or drum will be rotated forwardly, but cannot be rotated rearwardly. An incomplete forward movement will result in the parts being left in such position that the movement must be completed before the machine will be again locked and 7 before another operating implement or token can be b'rought into position to operate the releasing devices. Thus, it becomes practicallyimpossible to so manipulate the machine as tocause the delivery or severance .of -a second article before the complete delivery of the article which should have been delivered by the first opapart a sufficient distance to accommodate" between them a doubled sheet or any de sired number of parallel sheets of stamps or coupons such as indicated at C in the several figures of the drawing. For convenience the articles contained in the reservoir and tobe delivered will be hereinafter called the sheet. The sheet is adapted to be fed down by any suitable pressure means, preferably, however, by a long thin weight D which travels down within the reservoir and rests on the upper edge of the sheet. At the exit or bottom of the reservoir the sheet passes between clamping members preferably composed of a fixed clamp E and a movable clamp E, the latter being piv-' otally mounted in the sides of the frame on pivots indicated at 6. Below the clamp the sheet passes between and is held against buckling by fixed guides F and fixed cutters F which are arranged vertically edgewise to the sheet as best seen in Figs. 7 and 8, the upper edges of said guides and cutters being rigidly connected with suitable cross pieces 7' of the fixed frame, and the lower ends of said guides and cutters being adapted to travel in narrow grooves 9 formed in a rotary drum or periphery of a drum shaft G. Conveniently the shaft G may be provided with a series of collars which form the periphery of the drum and are spaced apart a suiiicient distance to form the grooves for the reception of the lower ends of the fixed guides and cutters, and each sleeve is provided with a more or less radial cutter adapted to cooperate with the fixed enters for severing the articles from the lower edge of the sheet. These movable cutters preferably have a diagonally arranged end cutting edge 11 and a more or less tangentially arranged side cutting edge H formed as a part of cutting blades which are attached to the diagonally :r ranged movable cutter bodies H the arrangement of each cutter being such as to sever the article by a diagonal cut at the upper edge and by a straight radial cut at the side edge as will be readily understood from an inspection of Figs. 3 and 6 to The series of cutters 5, as shown in the present apparatus, are arranged in stepped order or spirally around the shaft or drum G and are adapted to move past the fixed guides and cutters in succession one at each operation of the shaft.

The sheet being clamped immediatelv above cutters by the clamps E and E before referred to, will permit the full row of articles to be removed from its lower edge and then the clamps must be released so that the sheet may feed downwardly to present another row of articles to be removed. This is accomplished by normally holding the clamps in clamping position by a spring E Figs. 4: and 5, andimmediately before the cutter for removing the first article from a succeeeding row reaches its cutting posi tion, the clamp E is moved reversely or against the tension of its spring by a clamp releasing projection I on the shaft striking the lower end (2' of the clamp supporting arm, thus moving the clamp back to the position shown in Fig. 5 and permitting the sheet to feed downwardly to the position indicated in the last mentioned figure. The projection I immediately moves out of engagement with the clamp and the latter re turns to the clamping position indicated in Figs. 3 and 6. The movement of the shaft which releases the clamp and allows the sheet to feed forwardly, also brings the first cutter past the cutting point as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6, thereby severing the first article from'the lower row of articles on the sheet. Each cutter body is provided with a central projection V which prevents the stamps from binding between the fixed cutters and which assists in throwing the stamp forwardly so that it will drop down into a position where it may be conveniently removed by the person desiring the same. As shown in Fig. 1, the stamp drops down into a receptacle K at the front of the apparatus, where it is 'in plain view and may be picked up.

For operating the shaft or drum it is provided near the right hand end with a ratchet wheel L having a number of teeth corresponding to the number of spirally arranged cutters on the drum and journaled on the shaft is an operating lever M having its inner end of a disk-like formation where it surrounds the shaft and its outer end m which projects through a slot m in the casing in the form of a finger piece which is adapted to be depressed at each operation of the machine. The disk-like inner end of the operating lever M carries first a hook pawl N which is adapted to engage successively with the teeth of the ratchet wheel L and secondly a locking pawl 0 having its rear end 0 counter-weighted and its forward end provided with a locking hook or shoulder 9 adapted to engage a locking bar P. Preliminary to the operation of the ma chine, the locking pawl O must have its rear end depressed so as to release it from the locking bar P and this may be accomplished by any suitable means or through manual manipulation. It is usually accomplished by a coin or token which is introduced through a coin slot Q in the top of the casing and travels thence down an incline 9 onto a ledge on the locking pawl, or if the coin or token be of light weight, it passes off of the ledge 9' through a discharge opening ([2 at the back of the casing and may be retained in a suitable receptacle 9 and delivered to the person who deposited the same by any one having the'machine in charge and who will open the casing for that purpose.

Regardless of how the locking lever or pawl O is released, and assuming that it is released, the lever M may be depr ssed, and

in its forward movement it will operate the cutters, each forward movement of the lever serving to advance the drum orshaft one step.

In the manipulation of the machine, should the person operating thelever fail to depress it the full distance-necessary for severing and discharging an article or stamp and permit the lever to return to its normal position under the influence of its return spring B there would be danger of the locking pawl becoming engaged with the look ing bar P and so prevent the subsequent movement of the lever so as to complete the movementof the shaft or drum. To'overcome this difficulty the shaft or drum is provided near the end with a cam disk 5 shown in end elevation in Fig. 18, and this cam disk is provided with a series of cam projections corresponding in number to the number of cutters and ratchet teeth on the drum. The series of cam projections are adapted to cooperate successively with a slide T preferably through the intermediary of an adjustable shoulder formed by a screw -9 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 13 and in full lines in Fig. 15, in which position the locking pawl O cannot engage the same, even though it be returned to its normal position and consequently the locking lever M may be again depressed so as to complete its full movement. it will be noted that, owing to the fact that there are but five ratchet teeth for the operating pawl N to cooperate with, a full movement of the operating lever is necessary in order to bring a new tooth into position for cooperation with the pawl, and hence an incomplete movement of thelever M will do no harm and will leave the parts in position so that the movement must be completed before another operation of the machine can be inaugurated. I

incidental to the movement of the locking bar P out of operative position during the forward movement of the drum, the slide T is utilized as a means for closing the slot oropening through which the coin, token or implement is introduced for manipulating or releasing the locking pawl, and for this purpose the said slide T is provided with a slot or aperture reducing or closing projection T, which, when the slide advances is moved from the position shown in Fig. 14 to the position shown in Fig. 15, thereby eitherclosing or so reducing the size of the slot Q, that no coin, token or implement can be introduced for releasing the locking pawl.

The reservoir for the sheets of articles it will be noted is a broad, thin reservoir whereby the sheets are held in a single plane or against buckling, and the exit from the reservoir is of a length which corresponds to the breadth of the reservoir, so that the new row of articles into the path of the cut- Furthermore ters' arranged in steppedrelation. on' the.

drum. The lower row ofarticles on. the sheet 18 supported against the pressure of .the cutters on the drum by the fixed guides and fixed cutters so that the articles will be severed successively from the said bottom row by the action of the cutters in their transit past the cutting point.

Inoperation the locking pawl O is preliminarilyreleased from the locking bar P by being depressed to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 10., and it is held in its depressed or released position as by' the weight of a coin or token or by an implement introduced through the slot 2 until the operating lever has started to advance. The locking pawl may then be released and will travel with the locking lever from the 'positicn indicated in Figs- 9 and 14 to the position indicated in Fig. 11. The depressicn of the operating lever causes its pawl N to engage one of the teeth of the ratchet wheelL and advance the drum carrying cuttersone step so as to carry one of the cutters past the cutting point and sever an article from the sheet, and article then dropping clown into the receptacle K. A full down ward movement of the lever M to the position indicated in Fig. 11 permits'the locking bar controlling slide to return to its normal position inasmuch as the shoulder t drops elf.

V of one of the cam projections S to the positiontindicated in'Fig. l3, and upon the re-- position, the locking pawl cannot engage with the lever nor will the operating pawl N engage with the next tooth of the ratchet wheel, so that a subsequent movement of the locking lever will only complete the previous incompleted movement and no false delivery willresulta 7 It is desirable that the cutters on the drum shall operate to sever the articles at the top edgewith a shearing'cut and for this reason the end cutting edge of each cutter is arranged at an angle or spirally with relation to the axis of the drum, and a similar shearing cut may be effected along the sideedge of the article to be severed by arranging theside cutting edges at such an angle as to first engage the article at either top or bottom (see dotted line U, Fig. 5, for example). It will be noted that in the preferred arrangement illustrated, particularly in Figs. 4 to 6, the sheet advances 1n axplane whichis sliglitlyto that side of the axis of the drum toward the advancing cutters and the side cutting edges are slightly tangential to the 7 said axis. With this arrangement any tendency of the lower row of artcles to slide laterally of the drum is in a directicn to resist the pressure of the cutters and at the same time the articles are held by the drum against any possible sliding movement over to the rear side of the drum upon the release of the clamping devices.

The sheets of stamps are held between the transparent side walls of the reservoir so as to be exposed to view but are inaccessible. The doubling of a sheet of stamps so as to 'bring two stamps in position for removal by each cutter, or the mounting of two sheets stamps with the stamps in registry in the reservoir has an additional ad vantage in that the sheets tend normally to stay more or less out of intimate contact with each other, and consequently it is entirely practical to dispense with the use of paraffin paper separating sheets or separating sheets of any character, and furtheunore, the double sheets, 13 1s found, because of tl or support between the side walls of the reservoir, will not buckle, even when a relatively heavy weight D is employed for insuring the downward feeding of the sheets.

The simplicity of the apparatus commends itself because with it there is no need for the employment of feeding rollers or gripping devices, and the entire cutting opcraticncis performed by a single cutter having its cutting edges arranged at substantially right angles so as to form the top and edge cuts, whereas in prior machines designed for vending articles of this class it has usually been necessary to employ separate and separately operating cutters for making the cuts at right angles to each 7 other.

\"Vliile I have described the invention in connection with an apparatus designed spe- 'cifically for the vending and delivery of postage stamps, it will be understood that it is susceptible of a much wider range of usefulness and may be embodied in apparatus desi 'ned for the vending or delivery of any articles capable of being combined in sheet-like form, such, for example, as coupons, tickets, etc., and therefore I do not wish to be limited in my claims to the specific embodiment illustrated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vending apparatus such as described, a thin broad reservoir having an exit substantially co-extensive with its breadth and adapted for the reception of a sheet of connected articles to be delivered individually, a drum journaled on an axis substantially parallel with the reservoir exit, a plurality of cutters mounted on said drum in stepped relation to each other, means for supporting the bottom row of articles on the sheet in the path of the cutters below the reservoir, andfmeans for rotating the drum step by step for severing the articles from the bottom row of the sheet in succession.

r 2. In a vending machine such as described, a rotary drum, a plurality of cutters mounted on the drum in stepped relation, a reservoir having an exit opening parallel with the drum'for presenting the bottom row of a sheet of articles in the path of the cutters, means intermediate the path of the cutters for supporting the articles against the pressure of the cutters, and means for imparting a step by step rotary movement to the drum and cutters, whereby articles will be successively severed from the said bottom row of the sheet.

3. A vending machine of the class described embodying a rotary drum,a plurality of cutters projecting transversely therefrom in stepped relation and having side and end cutting edges, a broad, thin reservoir for holding a sheet of connected articles and having a broad exit parallel with the axis of the drum through which a row of articles may be projected into the path of the cutters, means for clamping the sheet with the lower row of articles in severing position, and means for rotating the drum and cutters step by step and for releasing the clamping means after the last article of a row has been severed.

4. In a vending machine such as described,

a rotary drum, a plurality of cutters mounted on the drum in stepped relation and having end and side cutting edges, means for advancing a sheet of connected articles to present a row of said articles in the path of the cutters, fixed cutters and guides intermediate the paths of the movable cutters for supporting the said row of articles against the pressure of the cutters, and means for imparting a step by step rotary movement to thedrum and cutters, whereby articles are successively severed from the said row.

5. In a vending machine such as described, a rotary drum, a plurality of cutters mounted on the drum, in stepped relation and having end and side cutting edges, means for ad vancing a sheet of connected articles into position for a row of said articles to project in the path of the cutters, fixed guiding means extending parallel with and between the paths of the cutters for supporting said row of articles against the pressure of cutters, clamping means for holding the sheet of articles in position, means foriimparting a step by step rotary movement to the drum and cutters for severing the articles successively from the row, and means controlled by the movement of the drunrr'for releasing the clamp when all of the articles of a row have been severed.

articles to be vended, said reservoir having an exit of a length co-extensive with the breadth of the reservoir, guides located below said reservoir in planes intermediate the articles of which the sheet is composed, a rotary drum mounted on an axis extending longitudinally of the exit opening of the reservoir, a series of cutters mounted in stepped relation on said drum in positions to traverse the spaces between the guiding means for the article, and means for imparting a step by step rotation to said drum for successively severing the articles from the sheet.

7. In a vending machine such as described, a rotary drum, a plurality of cutters mounted on the drum in stepped relation and each having a spirally arranged end cutting edge and a radially arranged side cutting edge, means for feeding a sheet of connected articles in a plane parallel with and intersecting the drum, guides located in planes transverse of the drum intermediate the articles of which the sheet is composed, and in planes intermediate the paths traversed by thecutters, and means for imparting a step by step rotation to the drum and cutters.

8. In a vending machine such as described, the combination with means for advancing a sheet of connected articles to be delivered individually, parallel spaced guides between which the articles are projected, and a clamp for holding the sheet with the articles in severing position, of a rotary drum located in the plane of the sheet or articles, a. plurality of cutters projecting transversely from said drum and arranged in stepped relation to pass successively between the fixed guides and sever articles held between said guides, means for imparting a step by step rotation to the drum, and a projection on the drum adapted to coiiperate with the clamp for operating the same when av row of articles has been severed from the sheet.

9. In a vending machine such as described, the combination with means for feeding a sheet composed of connected articles to be delivered individually, guiding means for the articles and a rotary drum having trans versely projected cutters arranged in stepped relation thereon for successively severing the articles from the sheet, of means for imparting a step by step rotary movement to the drum embodying a ratchet wheel connected with the drum, an operating lever carrying a pawl for cooperation with said ratchet wheel, a locking pawlcar rie'd by'the lever, a locking bar with which.

said locking pawl cooperates, and means controlled by the drum for moving the said locking bar out of operative position when the movement of the drum has been inaug'r rated and for restoring said locking bar to its operative position when the movementof the drum has been completed, whereby the re'e'ngagement of the locking pawl andbar after an incomplete movement is prevented.

'lOQIn a vending machine such as described, the combination of means for ad plete movement of the operating lever, a

locking pawl carried by the operating lever,

a locking bar with which the locking pawl cotiperatesto hold the locking lever against movement. a series of cam projections connectedwith the drum, a locking bar carrier cooperating V with said cam projections, whereby the locking bar ismoved out of its operative position when the drum is at an intermediate point in its movement, and means for restoring the locking lever and locking bar carrier to normal position, after the drum hasmade a complete movement to advance a knifepast'the severing point.

11. In a vending machine such as described, the combination of means for advancing a sheet composed of 7 connected articles to be'delivered individually, a rotary drum, transversely arranged knives projecting from said drum in stepped relation and adapted to successively sever articles from the sheet, a ratchet wheel carried by the drum andhaving a number of teeth corresponding to the number of knives,an operating lever, a pawl carried by said lever in position to cooperate with the teetlrofthe ratchet wheel whereby one knife is advanced past the severing point by each complete operation of the lever, a locking pawlcarried by the lever, a locking bar with which said locking pawl cooperates to hold the lever against movement, a movable locking 'bar carrier, and means controlled by the drum for moving said carrier and bar out of operative position when the movement of the drum has been inaugurated and for restoring said bar to its operative position when the movement of the drum has been completed. 7

12. In a vending machine such as described, the combination of means for advancing a sheet composed of connected articles to be delivered individually, a rotary drum, a plurality of cutters projecting transversely of the drum in stepped relation and in position to successively sever articles from the sheet, a ratchet wheel carried by the drum and having a number of teeth corresponding to the number of cutters on the drum, a reciprocatory operating lever, a pawl on said lever for cooperation with the ratchet wheel, a locking pawl carried by the lever, a locking bar with which the locking pawl cooperates, a locking bar carrier, a series of camprojections carried by the drum and in number corresponding to the number of knives on the drum, a shoulder on the locking bar carrier cooperating with said cam projections, and means for restoring the operating lever and locking bar carrier to normal position after the completion of each movement of the drum.

13. In a stamp vending machine, the combination with means for feeding a sheet of stamps in position for removing stamps successively from a single row, a rotary drum, a series of cutters mounted in stepped relation on said drum, stamp supports located intermediate the paths of the cutters, and a clamp for cooperation with the sheet beyond the path of the cutters, of means for imparting a step by step rotary movement to the drum and cutters, embodying a ratchet wheel carried by the drum and having a number of teeth corresponding to the number of cutters on the drum, an operating lever, a pawl carried by the ope *ating lever and cooperating with said ratchet wheel to advance the drum one step at each complete operation of the lever, a locking pawl carried by the lever, a locking bar, a movable locking bar carrier, cam projections adapted to cooperate with the locking bar carrier and positioned to move the locking bar out of operative position upon the inauguration of each successive movement and to permit said locking bar to return to normal position upon the completion of each successive movement, and a guard carried by said locking bar carrier for preventing the operation of the locking pawl when the carrier is advanced to move the locking bar out of operative position.

14. In a vending machine, the combination with means for holding a series of articles in a connected sheet in position to have the articles severed and delivered individually, and fixed supports in line with the divisions between the articles, of cutters movable between said supports for severing the articles from the sheet, and projections on the forward sides of the cutter bodies to deflect the articles and overcome the tendency of the articles tobind against the supports.

15. In a vending machine, the combina tion with means for holding a series of articles in a connected sheet in position to have the articles severed and delivered individually, and fixed cutters and guides in line with the divisions between the articles to support the same in delivering position, of cutters movable between the guides and cutters for severing and delivering the articles and projections on the forward sides of the cutter bodies intermediate the edges to deflect the articles and prevent binding against the sides of the fixed cutters.

WILLIAM G. TEMPLETON.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER S. STEWART, THOMAS DURANT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. C. 

